Amazon to invest $5bn in two new HQs in New York and Virginia

Questions over where Amazon would put down new roots outside of Seattle have finally been answered.

After an intense competition among US cities to land the new headquarters of Amazon, it has emerged that the e-commerce and cloud giant selected New York City and Arlington, Virginia for its new locations.

The company is to invest $5bn and create more than 50,000 new jobs across the two new headquarters. Each of the new headquarters will employ 25,000 people.

In addition, Amazon has selected Nashville, Tennessee as its new operation centre in the US, where it will employ 5,000 people.

It is understood that Amazon had received more than 200 proposals from cities and states all across North America, vying for the opportunity to host the new headquarters.

New Amazon delivery for NYC and Virginia

“We are excited to build new headquarters in New York City and northern Virginia,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon. “These two locations will allow us to attract world-class talent that will help us to continue inventing for customers for years to come. The team did a great job selecting these sites, and we look forward to becoming an even bigger part of these communities.”

The New York headquarters will be located in the Long Island City neighbourhood in Queens, just across the East River from Midtown Manhattan and the Upper East Side. Long Island City is described as a mixed-use community where arts and industry intersect and is reportedly a diverse community with a unique blend of cultural institutions, restaurants, bars, SMEs and a large tech sector.

As part of Amazon’s new headquarters, New York and Long Island City will benefit from more than 25,000 full-time high-paying jobs, approximately $2.5bn in Amazon investment, 4m sq ft of energy-efficient office space (with an opportunity to expand to 8m sq ft), and an estimated incremental tax revenue of more than $10bn over the next 20 years as a result of Amazon’s investment and job creation. Amazon will receive performance-based direct incentives of $1.5bn based on the company creating 25,000 jobs in Long Island City.

The second headquarters in Arlington will be located in National Landing, just three miles from downtown Washington DC. It too will generate 25,000 full-time high-paying jobs and will also benefit from $2.5bn in Amazon investment and the same measure of expandable office space, plus an incremental tax revenue of more than $3.2bn over 20 years. Amazon will receive performance-based direct incentives of $573m based on the company creating 25,000 jobs with an average wage of over $150,000 in Arlington.

The Nashville investment will see the city and state benefit from 5,000 full-time high-paying jobs, over $230m in investment, 1m sq ft of energy-efficient office space, and an estimated incremental tax revenue of more than $1bn over the next 10 years as a result of Amazon’s investment and job creation. The company will receive performance-based direct incentives of up to $102m based on creating 5,000 jobs with an average wage of over $150,000.